Annu. Rev. Psychol. 2000. 51:59–91 Copyright q 2000 by Annual Reviews. All rights reserved
THOUGHT SUPPRESSION Richard M. Wenzlaff and Daniel M. Wegner Division of Behavioral and Cultural Sciences, The University of Texas at San Antonio, San Antonio, Texas 78249–0652; e-mail:
[email protected] Department of Psychology, Gilmer Hall, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, Virginia 22903; e-mail:
[email protected] Key Words mental control, intrusive thought, rebound effect, ironic processes Abstract Although thought suppression is a popular form of mental control, research has indicated that it can be counterproductive, helping assure the very state of mind one had hoped to avoid. This chapter reviews the research on suppression, which spans a wide range of domains, including emotions, memory, interpersonal processes, psychophysiological reactions, and psychopathology. The chapter considers the relevant methodological and theoretical issues and suggests directions for future research. Again and again I have said to myself, on lying down at night, after a day embittered by some vexatious matter, ‘I will not think of it any more!. . . It can do no good whatever to go through it again. I will think of something else!’ And in another ten minutes I have found myself, once more, in the very thick of the miserable business, and torturing myself, to no purpose, with all the old troubles. Lewis Carroll (1893) Curiosa Mathematica
CONTENTS Introduction ....................................................................................60 The Phenomena ...............................................................................61 Emptying the Head ..........................................................................61 Postsuppression Rebound...................................................................62 Enhanced Accessibility During Suppression ............................................64 Theoretical Accounts ........................................................................66 Distracter Associations .....................................................................66 Goal Interruption ............................................................................67 Ironic Process Theory.......................................................................67 The Role of Metacognition .................................................................68 Key Variables..................................................................................69 Target Characteristics.......................................................................69 Instructed vs Spontaneous Suppression ..................................................71 0084–6570/00/0201–0059$12.00
59
60
WENZLAFF n WEGNER Individual Differences.......................................................................72 Assessment of Thinking .....................................................................73 Personal Consequences .....................................................................75 Emotional Reactions ........................................................................75 Substance Cravings .........................................................................75 Pain and Psychophysiological Reactions ................................................76 Memory .......................................................................................77 Interpersonal Consequences ...............................................................78 Impression Formation .......................................................................78 Stereotyping and Prejudice.................................................................79 Psychopathology..............................................................................80 Trauma ........................................................................................80 Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder...........................................................81 Depression .................................
